Scotland vs Italy Six Nations 2013: Scotland Player Ratings

15 – Stuart Hogg 9.5
Elite attacker, defender and a sure ascension to the Lions squad if he continues to play like this. Excellent all round performance from a player who is the benchmark for the rest of the Scottish team to reach.

14 – Sean Maitland 7.5
Another solid game from one of Scotland’s younger players. Set Scott up with a well positioned pass and couldn’t be faulted. As each game goes by the young winger is going to get better and better.

13 – Sean Lamont 7.5
A big-time player like Lamont needed to put in a strong performance, as many feel his star is on the wane. His positional play was often poor but he grabbed himself a good try, showing impressive awareness and pace.

11 – Tim Visser 8
Worked tirelessly always looking for the ball. Took his try well demonstrating his impressive running talents. Italy had no answer for the skilful winger.

10 – Ruaridh Jackson 7
A good game by his standards, was calm and well positioned throughout the contest. Showed the crowd what he can do with some excellent work for Visser’s try.

9 – Greg Laidlaw 8
Another solid game from ‘Mr Dependable’. Kicked well and worked relentlessly to keep the pace high. Was at the forefront of every Scottish move.

1 – Ryan Grant 7
Scrummaged well and kept working hard to the final whistle. If the strong prop continues to play as he has the past two games he will get a Lions look-in for sure.

2 – Ross Ford 6
After being dropped for the Calcutta match Ford had a lot to prove. Had a consistent match with some strong line-out throwing and scrummaged well.

3 – Euan Murray 7
A completely different player from last week. Scrummaged excellently, showing what he can actually do. Strong tackling, hard running and an all-round solid game.

4 – Richie Gray 6.5
Not showing his full potential but did not look out of place. Showed his athleticism, power and skill in an overall good performance. Needs to find more gaps and run with purpose but with an improved Scotland coaching team we could well find him dominating again.

5 – Jim Hamilton 8
Did the dirty work with Gray, working hard to make sure no Italian players found the space to threaten Scotland. Could have tackled all day, letting nothing past the strong Scottish defensive line.

6 – Rob Harley 8
Brought in to shore up the backrow and did his job well. Made some crucial tackles while always looking for the ball. Was prominent in the line-outs while putting himself about the entire pitch.

7 – Kelly Brown (Captain) 8
A solid all round performance from the captain. Led the line well, tackling with strength and determination. Worked tirelessly to make sure that nothing passed the gain-line while trying his best to slow the Italian ball down.

8 – Johnnie Beattie 8
A very much improved overall performance. He possesses the tools to be great but needs to stay injury free while maintaining this high level of play. Worked well throughout the contest, showing he also has the skills with the boot following a well positioned kick to the corner.

Oh joy, i’m glad Scotland finally played to their potential! At least I will have 2 weeks of relative calmness at the club as I am the sole Scotland supporter in the team (and Ireland as well, so I’ll still get laughed at by the majority of the club anyway).

I thought Gray was outstanding. Before the game he had been criticised for being “lazy” but he responded brilliantly by popping up all over the park.

We didnt see much of his running game but he did the hard stuff a lot better than usual.

That moment in the second half when he found himself out on the wing and chased up that cross kick and bundeled the Italian into touch was good hard work which he needs to do more often and add to his running game.

I can’t quite understand how Visser gets an 8. The main reason given for Ashton’s 4 was his inability to tackle. So Visser should most definitely get scored lower for the same reason. I saw a couple of times when he looked like he fell over before the player even got to him. I was almost surprised not to see him holding his face, rolling around on the floor like a footballer. There’s no doubt he’s great going forward, but ask him to tackle or even turn and track back and he’s not interested.
I guess he got an 8 for his go forward, but in the conditions and the amount of ball Scotland had, it was hardly surprising.